The irishtimes.com

26 March 2010

BARRY ROCHE Southern Correspondent

CLOYNE: GARDAÍ ARE to resubmit a file to the DPP after re-interviewing an elderly priest in the Diocese of Cloyne concerning a complaint he sexually assaulted another priest when the younger man was an altar boy more than 20 years ago.

Detectives met the elderly priest earlier this week and interviewed him at length after they obtained further information from diocesan files which had been handed over by Bishop John Magee to the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCC).

The priest, identified as Fr A in the report prepared by Ian Elliot, chief executive of the NBSCC, had previously been interviewed by gardaí in 2006 and a file had been sent to the DPP but the DPP had directed there be no prosecution.

However, on foot of a complaint from a retired schoolteacher that Bishop Magee had withheld information from gardaí when the diocese first reported the matter in 2005, gardaí examined a file on the matter given by the diocese to Mr Elliott for his inquiry.

Now on foot of examination of that file which included information not seen by officers, detectives met the elderly priest this week and interviewed him again about the complaint that he sexually assaulted the young altar boy in the mid-1980s.

The new information together with the memorandum of the new interview with Fr A will now be added to the Garda file on the case which will be resubmitted in the coming months to the DPP.

Meanwhile a file is also being assessed in relation to another priest in the Cloyne diocese, identified by Mr Elliott in his report as Fr B, a priest in his 70s, who has previously been accused by six women of sexually assaulting them while young girls.

All six files were submitted separately and the DPP has directed in each case that no prosecution be brought. But he is now considering a seventh case which relates to a complaint against the priest that he sexually abused a young girl over 25 years ago.

Two further files are also being considered separately in relation to another priest from the Cloyne diocese who stood down from his ministry last year after two women made two separate complaints to gardaí that they had been assaulted by him when aged just 13 in the early 1980s.

The priest, who is in his 50s, agreed to take administrative leave from his parish duties in May 2009 pending the investigation by gardaí, whom he met by appointment in September 2009 when they interviewed him for several hours about the allegations.

The Irish Times - Friday, March 26, 2010

PATSY McGARRY Religious Affairs Correspondent

BISHOP OF WATERFORD AND LISMORE: CATHOLIC BISHOP of Waterford and Lismore William Lee said yesterday the Garda was not contacted by him for two years after he became aware of allegations of child sex abuse against a priest in the diocese, and that the priest was not removed from ministry for three years after he became aware of those complaints.

Last December he said that child protection policies in the diocese were “based on the practice of full co-operation with the statutory authorities”.

Yesterday, he described his own handling of the allegations of clerical child sex abuse in the diocese between 1993 and 1996 as “seriously inadequate”.

He admitted for the first time that he contacted the Garda about one priest in December 1995, two years after he was first made aware of complaints against the priest. He also said he did not remove the priest from ministry until February 1996.

Since then the priest “has not been permitted to exercise any form of ministry”.

Bishop Lee expressed regret yesterday “that I had not sought the immediate withdrawal of the priest from all ministry and that others associated with the new ministry were not informed that allegations had been made”.

The statement issued by his communications office on December 8th last referred to two priests who had allegations made against them. It said “each priest was the subject of one complaint and, after investigation by the Garda, the Director of Public Prosecutions decided not to initiate a prosecution”. It assured people in the diocese that all the bishop’s decisions “were taken after most careful deliberation including ongoing consultation with, and favourable recommendations from, the Diocesan Advisory Panel.” It also assured people “that the church’s policy of safeguarding children in Ireland is fully in place and implemented in the diocese of Waterford and Lismore” and that “the HSE considers that it enjoys a trustful and professional relationship with our diocese”.

Yesterday, Bishop Lee spoke of “the inadequacies” in his handling of the cases referred to.

Explaining his volte face when it came to contacting the Garda about the December 1993 case and eventual removal of the priest from ministry, he said that “in October 1995, having had the benefit of the guidance then emerging from the Bishops’ advisory committee on child sexual abuse, I reviewed my earlier decisions in the case and concluded that these had been seriously inadequate.”

He “set about initiating a full review of the case. I renewed contact with the complainants and advised them of the policy with regard to reporting such complaints to the Garda which it was anticipated would be adopted by the episcopal conference in January 1996. With their knowledge I reported their complaints to the Garda in December 1995.”

He arranged that the priest be reassessed at a new treatment centre. “On this occasion the advice offered led me to decide to bring about the withdrawal of the priest in question from ministry. I also appraised those associated with the new ministry that allegations had been received. Further complaints were received about the same priest in January 1996,” he said.

These were “immediately notified to the Garda”. The priest “has not been permitted to exercise any form of ministry since February 1996. Regular contact has been maintained with him and he is the subject of ongoing supervision.”

The Irish Times - Friday, March 26, 2010

GEORGE JACKSON

STRABANE CASE: A PARISH priest said yesterday that the continued presence of another priest in his parochial house was “inappropriate”.

Fr Declan Boland, parish priest of Strabane, Co Tyrone, said he wants Fr John McCullagh removed from the Church of the Immaculate Conception parochial house after child sex abuse allegations made against Fr McCullagh.

Fr McCullagh, who was neither charged nor convicted of any sex abuse offence, was relieved of all clerical duties after he paid a private settlement of £12,000 to a woman who alleged he had sexually abused her over a 10-year period starting in 1979. In paying the woman, Fr McCullagh did so without admitting liability and he has always denied the allegation.

Nine years ago, after he was relieved from his clerical duties, he was transferred by the Derry Diocesan Authority to live in the Strabane parochial house. Fr Boland said he was unaware of the nature of the allegations against Fr McCullagh until the details emerged in the media last week. He has now asked the Bishop of Derry, Dr Seamus Hegarty, to have Fr McCullagh moved.

“I have a sense of frustration that information about Fr McCullagh was withheld from me by church authorities and I was kept in the dark about the specifics of his case and now I have to deal with a situation and with a problem that is none of my making,” said Fr Boland.

“I accept there was no admission of liability by Fr McCullagh but in this day and age perception is what matters. In the light of what has happened it would be inappropriate to have him here in the parochial house. I was not aware of the extent of the situation when he was moved to Strabane as I now am.

“The bottom line is given what has occurred, it is no longer appropriate for him to stay as it is now impossible for him to live in the parochial house here because parishioners here have expressed their concern about his continued presence. I have made it perfectly clear that Fr McCullagh’s stay in Strabane is no longer possible and I am confident that an appropriate decision will be made by the diocesan authorities.

“I am very worried that the image of the parish will be besmirched by this and I will address this from the altar at the weekend. I will clarify the situation for the people and give them a clear understanding of what has happened. Quite frankly in the light of recent revelations there is no way this man can remain under my roof,” he said.

The Bishop of Derry was not available for comment yesterday.

Cardinal Seán Brady urged to withdraw evidence in abuse court case

Mirror.co.uk

25/03/2010

A bishop who mishandled reports of sex abuse has quit and asked for forgiveness.

John Magee, 73, took little action when two of his priests were accused of abuse, a report by a Catholic church watchdog found.

"To those whom I have failed in any way, or through any omission of mine have made suffer, I beg forgiveness and pardon," he said in a statement.

The cleric, who served in Rome as personal secretary to three popes, resigned as head of the Cloyne diocese in County Cork in March 2009. Pope Benedict has taken a year to formalise it.